Shock absorber



June 24 1924. 1,499,179

L. MASTRANGEL SHOCK ABS ORBER Filed May 9. 1923 Patented .lune 24, 1924.

l y 1.499.179 PArENr orifice.

'LOUIS MASTRANGEL, OF WEST HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY- SHOCK ABSORBER.

*Y Application filed May 9,

To all whom t may concern.'

,BQitlQlOWLl thaLlPLo'UIs MASTRANGEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Hoboken,"in the 'county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certainI new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates 4to shock absorbers for vehicles, of the type embodying a casing with a frusto-conical seat and a rotary brake element thereinwith a frusto-conical bearing surface nesting in the seat. With this type of device itis necessary that resi-lient means be provided for maintaining the braking element in contact with its seat, with the desired degree of pressure., Prior devices of this type have utilized flat or leaf springs for supplying this pressure, but they have been unsatisfactory because when the braking elements vmoves further into the seat as the parts become worn, the leaf spring quickly looses its stress and fails to exert the necessary pressure upon the braking element. In prior4 devices the, braking element has been mounted for rotation onl in one wall of the casing, and consequent y it soon enlarges the opening. of the casing through which it passes, due towear, with the result that a lubricant packed in the casing leaks An object of this'invention is to provide an im roved shock absorber of this type' which wi "automatically compensate for wear on the frictional bearing surface without materially lessening the pressure between the surfaces; with which the lubricant will not leak out due to wearing of the bearings; and with which the pressure between the surfaces may be varied as desired. A further object is to provide an improved shock absorber of this type which is exceptionally simple, compact, durable and inexpensive. Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel featres will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in claims. 1

1n the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation ofA a portion of a vehicle having thereon a shock absorber con- 1923. serial No. 637,625.

. Referring particularly tothe embodiment face of the casing, and may be locked in y closed position in any suitable manner, such as by a lug 5 which is clamped to the closure by a screw 6 in a position to enter a slot 7 in the edge surroundin the open faceof the casing and lock the c osure against rotation. rEhe casing is provided in its interior with a frusto-conically shaped bearing seat 8, in which a lining band 9 of a suitable frictionmaterialfsuch as liber, isnested. Ashaft 10 passes throughth'e interior of the casing between the closure 4 andthe opposite side wall of the casing, and has a reduced end 11 rotatably mounted in a recess l2 in the wall of the casing opposite the closure 4, The shaft 10 has reduced portion 13 which passes through an aperture 14 in the closure 4,' and a further non-circular reduced portion 15 which extends outwardly beyond thesclosure soY 4.. A Still further reduced portiorl'bf the Y .Shaft i110 Vis threaded, and carries.theneona..

'niit 17' a1n d washer 18. A crank arm 19 is provided.at-enendfwith an aperture 20 periphery ,ofthe reduced portion 15 of the shaft, `,and Hts over the same, so that the crankaiarmgand shaft will rotate together. The'cr'ank 'arm is confined to the non-circular portion 15 of the shaft by the nut 17 and washer 18. rIhe shoulder between the portion of the shaft 10 within the casing and the reduced portion 13 which passes through the closure, is adapted to engage against the inner face of the closure and prevent withdrawal of the shaft 10 from the casing through the opening in the closure. The shaft 1Q is provided with a non-circular enlarged portion 21, immediately adjoining the reduced portion 1l, and a braking element 22 fits over the enlarged portion 2l of the shaft. The brake element has an aperture 23 which corresponds substantiallyin shape and size to the periphery of the enlarged portion 21 of the shaft, except that the aperture 23 is slightly larger than the peripher of the enlarged portion 2l so that there wi l be a slight amount of lost motion between them. Because of the non-circular aperture 23 and the non-circular periphery of the enwhich correspondsninfshape and size to the Y' i conical seat of the case.

is compressed between the brake element 22 tending to carry it more firmly into engagelarged portioln 21, the-shaft and brake element will rotate together, and at the same time the brake element'will be free to slide axially of theshaft.. The periphery of the brake element 22 isl frusto-conical and nests within the friction lining 9 and frusto- A coil spring 24 and the closure 4, and exerts a yielding pressure upon the brake element in a direction ment withy the lining 9. The inner face of the-closure 4^ may be, and preferably is, provided with a washer 25 which is secured in any suitable manner, against rotation relatively thereto, and the coil spring, at its outer end,'is adapted to bear against this washer, which is preferably 'of hardened steel or other suitable hardened material, so that any wear between the spring andclosure will occur in the washer, vwhich'can be readily replaced. The turns of the lspring 24 are preferably of progressively different diameters so as to be frusto-conicalin shape, and the coil is'placed within the casing with the large base abutting against the brake element 22, and the small base abutting against the washer 25 of the closure.,LNSZ-Vith.V

such a coil the turns fwiflliclearoneanother `when compressed into a single plane.

The crank arm 19 is attached by a universal connection to one end of a link 26, and the latter on its otherend is pivotally connected, as at 27, to a bracket 28 which may be secured to the axle 29 of the vehicle. The bracket 28 is preferably formed of two sections which are secured together and against opposite faces of the axle by one or more screws 30.

In the operation of the shock absorber `illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and hereinbefore described, the casing is connected to thel chassis frame, and the bracket. 28 to the axle.

As the vehiclev moves over the roadway, the unevenness of the roadway will cause the axle and chassis frame to move toward and froin'one another to an extent permitted by the springs of the vehicle. Durl ing these relative movements of the axle and chassis frame, the' crank arm 19 will be oscillated and `through its connection to the shaft 10 and the latters connection to the brake element 22, the brake element will be oscillated. This oscillation-v will be resisted by the friction lining 9 of the bearing seat in the casing. During the minor relative movements between Athe chassis frame and axle only a slight movement of the crank arm- 10 will result, andowing to the slight lost motion between the braking element and the shaft,`the brake element will not be oscillated.' Therefore, the only resistance. tol

these relative movements between-the axle.

and shaft, will be that due to the supporting springs between them. When, however,

the chassis frame and axle partake of the major relative movements, such'as when bumps or sharp undulations inthe roadway yeffectively serves to check the excessive or maJor relative movements between the chassis frame and axle. As the lining 9 becomes worn,.the.s'pring 24 will automatically shift Vthe brake element further into the frusto-conical seat, so as to compensate for the wear of the lining, and since a coil spring is utilized, thel slight expansion which is causedby the'movement of the brake element against the lining, will not materially lessen the stress existing in the spring.

In the embodimentillustr'ated in Fig.` 3, the closure 4a is provided Awith a'sleeve 31 which is threaded through the central aperture 14a thereof., The sleeve may be held in different adjusted positions within the closure in any suitable manner such as by a set screw 32.-

The sleeve is provided upon its `inner end with a washer 25 of hardened material for engaging with the coil spring,` and preventingwear when relative movement occurs between the spring and the sleeve. The shaft 33 correspods'in function to the shaft v10, and is provided with a non-circular enlarged portion 34, corresponding to the enlarged portion 21 of the embodiment shown sol in Figures 1 and 2, over which the brake element 22 is somewhat loosely disposed.

yThe shaft 33 is providedat its inner end with a recess which fits over and rotates f jecting from the inner face of the side wall of the casing opposite the closure. The shaft 33 may be held against axial movement in which extend inwardly from the shaft and engage in anannular' roove 38 provided upon the periphery oft e pin 36. In this embodiment the spring 24 may be compressed to various extents, for varying the Aupon a bearing pin 36 affixed to and proy iio pressure between the frictional bearing surfaces, byadjusting the sleeve 31 to various extents through the aperture 14a of the closure 48. The operation otherwise issimilar to that described in connection with the embodiment shown in Figs'. 1 and 2.

The interior of the casingimay be packed with a suitable lubricant, and since, in both embodiments, the shaft has a bearing at opposite sides of the casing, there will be no uneven wear on the bearing surfaces, and

consequently no `likelihood V-f leakage ofl the lubricantthrough worn bearings. The coil spring will produce a substantially constant pressure between the friction surfaces, and automatically vcompensate for considerablewear between the surfaces without inaterially affecting the pressure which/ it creates between` the surfaces.

It will be obvious that various changes in the details and arrangements of parts herein described and illustrated for the purpose of explaining the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Claims:

1. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a casing adapted for connection to one of two relatively moving parts whose movement is to be checked, and having a frustoconical seat, a shaft extending through and rotatably carried by the casing, a brake element wit-hin the casing and connected to said shaft for rotation therewith and slidable therealong, said element having a frustoconical periphery fitting in and having frictional bearing with the frusto-conical seat of the casing, a coil spring acting -between the said element and a wall 4of the casing for stressing said element yieldingly into the frusto-conical seat, an arm fixed to said shaft, and means for connecting said arm to the other of the two relatively moving parts.

2. A shock absorber for vehicles, comprising a casing adapted for connection to one of two relatively moving parts lwhose movement is to be checked, andhaving a frustoconical seat, a rotary shaft extending through the interior of -the casing and having bearings in opposite Walls of the casing, a brake element within the casing and -connected to said shaft for rotation therewith and slidable therealong, said element having a frusto-conical periphery fitting in and having frictional bearing with the frusto-conical seat of the casing, a coil spring acting between the said element and. a wall of the casing for stressing said ele-: ment yieldingl'y into the frusto-conical seat;`

an arm fixed to said shaft, and means for connecting said arm to the other of the two relatively moving parts.

3. A shock absorber for vehicles comprising a casing having a frusto-conical bearing seat, and a removable closure forming one side wall of the casing, said closure having a bushing adjustable therethroughto difing in and having frictional bearing in said y seat, a coil spring acting between the bushing and said element for stressing the element yieldingly against" the said seat whereby adjustment of the bushing through the closure will vary the pressure of the element against its seat, and an arm iixed on the shaft whereby when the arm and casing are connected to two relatively moving parts, the relative movement will be resisted by the friction of the element in said seat.

4. The shock absorber for vehicles substantially asset forth in claim l, in which the turns of the coil spring vary progressively in diameter so as to be compressible substantially into a single plane without interference between the different turns.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my signature.

LOUIS MASTRANGEL. v 

